Employment expo shows more jobs than workers in Coshocton County

• Ohio Means Jobs of Coshocton County held its annual employment expo on Thursday at Lake Park Pavilion with 46 employers.
• OMJ routinely has more than 200 full-time and part-time jobs available locally with healthcare and manufacturing most in need of workers.
• The COVID-19 pandemic offset the workforce and it hasn't righted yet with many Baby Boomers and women deciding to stay home.
• Local employers looking for workers and the positions they have open run the gamut with finding those with the skill sets a major obstacle.

COSHOCTON − Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the employment picture in Coshocton has remained relatively the same - plenty of jobs available, but nobody to fill them.

Ohio Means Jobs of Coshocton County has routinely had more than 200 open full-time and part-time positions on its jobs board. Those with the most open jobs have included three of Coshocton's biggest employers in the industrial sector − McWane Ductile, Kraft Heinz and Cleveland Cliffs. Business Coordinator Shannon Stanton said the two sectors hurting the most is manufacturing and health care.

Ohio Means Jobs held a mini-job fair in May at Coshocton Village Inn and Suites and it's annual employment expo was Thursday at Lake Park Pavilion. There was 46 employers in attendance.

Administrator Lynn Jacobs said the expo has been occurring for about 10 years. Other jobs fairs were held before that, but it was tough to find employers to participate. The opposite is true now, although it's not unprecedented.

To put it in perspective, Jacobs said they had about 1,500 people a month come through their resource center six years ago. Now, it's under 100 people a month. Although, Jacobs admits more is being done now with digital resources.

Unemployment in Coshocton County is about 5%, but when you discount those who just aren't suitable for work due to disabilities, age and other issues, it's closer to 2.5% to 3%. Jacobs said that's about as good as you can get. He estimates there are about 600 people in Coshocton who can work that aren't.

"It's like a big pendulum. It goes clear to the left and clear to the right," Jacobs said of how the job market swings. "We're going to be busy regardless. If we don't have the people looking for work, then we have businesses looking for people."

Stanton said ironically they had more businesses who wanted to attend the job fair, but couldn't because they couldn't spare the personnel. Some companies sent information and Ohio Means Jobs took applications for those firms to send on.

Current workforce picture

Jacobs has repeatedly said COVID-19 was a huge shakeup to the workforce across the country, not just in Coshocton County, and it hasn't righted itself yet. This included many Baby Boomers deciding to retire early, known as the Great Resignation, and women staying at home to save on child care costs.

"It was a catalyst for Baby Boomers to leave by the droves," Jacobs said of the pandemic. "Women who stayed home have also figured out, 'We spend X number of dollars on child care. I'm home now. If we could tighten our budget by about 20%, that's what I'm making after I pay the bills for child care and things like that.' So, woman left the workforce too."

Jacobs said the line about people just not wanting to work is a bit of a misnomer. Sure, there are some who don't want to work, but that's not new and it's not as many as some think. And while some made more not working during the pandemic due to the increase in unemployment benefits, the extra has dissipated.

"Those people never want to work. They didn't want to work before COVID and they don't want to work after COVID," Jacobs said. "Eighty percent of the people in Coshocton County go to work everyday, work 40 hours plus a week and pay their bills. But those aren't the people we talk about."

Employers searching for workers

MFM Building Projects Corporation is nearing completion of an $8 million expansion project. Jeff Foster, human resources and safety manager, said they're looking for second and third shift production employees. They need from six to 20 people depending on how fast their new production line opens. While factory experience is a plus, they're willing to train.

"The problem is you don't have people with years and years of manufacturing experience anymore. They're pretty much staying where they are. So, we're looking for the younger generation to step in and fill those skilled trade needs," Foster said.

Coshocton Regional Medical Center has 65 positions open ranging the gamut from doctors and nurses to housekeeping and janitorial. Josh Bigrigg of human resources said a big hurdle for them is letting people know there are more opportunities in the health care field than just clinical.

He said an event like the employment expo allows them to "connect with the community and try to get more people involved with the hospital and what we're providing."

Kraft Heinz of Coshocton, which produces all the Oscar Mayer bacon for the company, is hiring for first and second shift production team members with about 60 slots open.

Tia Cramblett, human resources coordinator, said they're stuck in a Catch-22 situation. Because of being down personnel, many are having to work 60 hours a week for the company to keep up with production demands. New hires don't want to work that many hours, but if they could get staffing levels up, then most could do just 40 hours a week.

"We understand that's demanding for a lot of families and that's our biggest struggle," Cramblett said.

Sara Warne is the human resources director for PSI Industrial Solutions, an environmental and industrial cleaning company. They're looking to hire entry level general laborers and CDL drivers. She said they don't have a set number of openings, because as they grow they need new workers.

"We're always looking for quality candidates. Dependability is key for us. If we show up late for a customer, we could end up losing that customer," Warne said. "We're a small work family and each individual person is part of the heartbeat of the company."

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.